


The Awakening of Mercy Briarwood

by FlyingTowardTomorrow2567



Category: Inuyasha - Fandom, My Hero Academia, Some references to Percy Jackson, rise of the guardians
Genre: Contains found family, Contains homosexual characters, Contains no Mineta, Future Fic, Multi, Overhaul is dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 6,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26187250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingTowardTomorrow2567/pseuds/FlyingTowardTomorrow2567
Summary: On the day before Izuku Midoriya graduated he finally got to meet the ghost that had been protecting him all his life.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Pain was the first thing she was aware of. The next was darkness. Pain and darkness were all that she could perceive. It was like she was floating in a sea of darkness. If not for the pain that would probably have been quite peaceful. Then slowly she became aware of voices. Speaking in soft tones that were soothing to her ears. Well that was certainly new. She couldn’t remember that before now. Where was she anyway. The last thing she remembered was attempting to ruffle Eri’s hair and looking at the 9th user of One for All. The boy she had sworn to protect. Was she alive again somehow. That should be an impossibility but then again she supposed stranger things could happen in a world filled with quirks. Strange powers that she had never understood the existence of and yet had also never looked into. That wasn’t her job as a Guardian. Her job had been protecting children and although she had long since died she was still in a way doing that. Slowly and more than a little painfully sky blue eyes opened and met confused and anxious looking red eyes. Was Eri scared. She wished she could comfort the girl but currently she couldn’t move. Who was the man next to Eri with the raised black hair and red eyes. She didn’t know him. What country or place was she even in and who were all these people. She was so confused.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every cell of her broken but alive body screamed in protest but she had to keep Toshi alive. Even if it was just for one more day.

Well now there was no denying it. Mercy was alive. Alive and in near indescribable pain. Every cell of her broken but alive body screamed in protest but she had to keep Toshi alive. Even if it was just for one more day. She owed the Symbol of Peace at least that much. Well former Symbol of Peace anyway. She wasn’t sure who the current Symbol of Peace was. Maybe Hawks. She hoped it wasn’t the very anger driven Flame hero with the Hellflame quirk. The one whose name currently escaped her. The thoughts were moving too fast but all disjointed. She still didn’t know where she was or how she was alive. Unless Eri had brought her back somehow. Rewound her to just before she had died from her short lived battle with All for One. She still remembered every detail of that fight in startlingly clarity. It had been her last after all. A desperate struggle after she had tried to console and comfort the first user. Takuma had been his name and she had dearly loved him. He was a gentle soul. Far weaker than his older brother. All for One’s true name was Hiroyoshi. Hiroyoshi Shigaraki. He was a dark soul. A twisted man that delighted in acquiring power and hurting the innocent. He wanted to be the ultimate power. To rule the world and every person on it. He shared some things in common with demons but most demons had died out long ago. She remembered holding him as a baby. He was a newborn then and as she looked into those large and innocent eyes she got a chill. Something dark was in those eyes and she was growing rapidly dizzy. Like her power was being drained right out of her. This couldn’t be small Hiroyoshi’s quirk. He was far too young to have this much power. Or at least that’s what she assumed at first. Over the years the pieces clicked into place one by one until finally she had the whole picture in her mind. The child she had loved in those first moments while his mother slept was an unimaginable evil. Worse than Pitch Black and Pitch was a very formidable opponent. She had fought Horiyoshi and he had let her believe that she had won before he had stabbed her and then escaped with Takuma. The house had collapsed on her and she died but no one in any of the houses around her had died. It was a miracle and her final act before becoming a ghost. It was the least she could do to protect innocent people from the terrible evil that lived among them. A last gift from a Guardian that loved too much. That was her biggest weakness. Her compassionate heart. Even as a ghost though she had protected Takuma. He couldn’t see her but she and a group of other ghosts had protected him. And then as the users continued to receive the power and one by one lose to All for One the other ghosts slowly faded away. Until there was only one left. Mercy was the last ghost and she was tired. She wanted to move on. “I hate to say this but someone has finally broken the Midoriya boy’s broken bone record.” Recovery Girl said. “How she is even alive eludes me.” “Although with these injuries she may not be alive long unless I perform surgery very soon.” “Could most of you leave?” Sky blue eyes locked onto shocked red ones and slowly Shouta Aizawa’s hair went down. He and Eri and Izuku and maybe that was Mirio and the boy with it looked like squid arms and a man dressed in leather with entirely too tall hair all stayed. Everyone else left. And then her thoughts got rather foggy and her eyes closed and she knew no more for quite a while as exhaustion overtook her broken body.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It takes several hours but Mercy awakens again. To pain and the smell of bleach or some other disinfectant. She’s lucky to be alive they tell her. They also tell her that her lungs are crushed pretty bad.

After what could have been several hours or could have been a lifetime Mercy awakens again. She awakens to a blazing pain and the smell of bleach or some other kind of disinfectant. It is cold but she ignores that for now. Cold doesn’t bother her much even in this weakened state of hers. In fact it reminds her of Jack Frost. The much beloved Guardian of fun. She wonders how he’s doing. She never told him or any of the other Guardians goodbye before she died. How could she have. Her body was mangled and crushed beyond belief. Maybe she could have called them just to hear their voices one last time but she never thought of it. Normally she wasn’t really entirely single minded but in the case of that fateful day she had been. So determined to defeat Horiyoshi that she forgot all else. It had been a long time since she had been a mother and had children running around to take care of. Her children had had children and those children had had children and she was a great-great-great grandmother and quirks existed now. So many strange and wondrous powers. If she had lived even just a little longer maybe she could have studied them. But alas she had died. Drained of power and injured severely she had succumbed to the surprisingly gentle grip of Death. She was no longer a Guardian. No longer a spirit to protect children. She was merely a ghost. She could speak out loud and maintain a human form on certain nights for a brief period of time. Then she would cough great amounts of blood and go back to being unseen but not completely unnoticed. To have her brush against you was painful for her but not for the person she brushed against. For them it was peaceful and gentle. Like a calm wind. Over time certain descendants of hers began to show great power. Maybe not great physical power in some cases but power nonetheless. Brute strength wasn’t everything after all and even the most powerful person would eventually tired themselves out. One of the quirks that sprung up could be translated in Japanese as Harmony or Peace. It was touch based and most of the time could not be used on the user themselves. Although in rare cases it could be used on the user. It was generally considered a fairly weak quirk because it was not flashy and did not have any fighting applications. Personally Mercy thought that was ridiculous. What made a quirk good or evil besides how it was used. Everyone had light and dark inside of them. Always fighting for control. You just had to be careful which one had more control. Also a numbers of fire quirks had come from her descendants. She rarely interacted with them because somehow despite it defying any and all logic a ghost could be set on fire. Multiple powerful healing quirks came from her descendants as well as some more unusual quirks such as was it transport or teleportation. She couldn’t remember the exact words in English. She had never been that good at English. It was hard to read and even harder to speak. She preferred Japanese. And well Ancient Greek. Her father was the Greek god Zeus. That hadn’t changed and would never change. And then her memories got kind of foggy as her sky blue eyes looked into concerned and scared red ones. Eri was scared and regardless of if she could move or not Mercy absolutely had to do something about that. Precious Eri shouldn’t be scared. Not after the death of Chisaki. Mercy had made absolutely certain that he was dead. Real monster of a man right there. Practically a demon in fact. Like an old and particularly malicious one. Mercy opened her mouth to talk and only air and the most painful of wheezes came out. She couldn’t speak. She could only stare as blood trickled out of her mouth. Too much blood. Well that wasn’t good. Maybe she should try to connect her mind to Eri’s that had worked before. Of course that was back when she was a ghost but still. How hard could it be. Unfortunately she was still mentally connected to All Might so she would have to make this a three way thing instead of a two way thing. She couldn’t disconnect from Toshi right now. Not when he was dying and dying so rapidly at that. This was one of the only remaining parts of her power as a Guardian and she had to put it to good use. Even if it hurt and especially if it hurt. To bring comfort to a dying man she would do nearly anything. She had done it for Takuma and the other users and she would do it for Toshi. After all what was some suffering if Toshi was smiling or Nana or Takuma or any of the others. To make their last moments alive peaceful no matter the cost to herself. Toshi likely would not make it more than a day or two past Izuku’s graduation but that was okay. He would be okay. She would help make sure of that. “Rest Toshi. Zuzu will still be there when you wake up.” Mercy sent mentally. That was getting harder to do. Oh well now on to Eri. “It’s okay little one. You’ve done nothing wrong.” “You aren’t cursed and Chisaki cannot hurt you.” “He is gone. Gone to the land where monsters live.” “A land that cannot and will not touch you as long as I exist.” Mercy sent mentally. Okay maybe she wasn’t okay maybe she was so much less than okay at the moment that no one should have allowed it. But well Mercy was stubborn. Infinitely stubborn. And determined to help Eri at all costs. Someone had once said perhaps at least semi jokingly that Mercy had an iron will. Maybe now was time to test that out. No better time than the present after all. “Your lungs were crushed.” said the voice of Recovery Girl. “You will need new lungs.” she added. Now Mercy understood the look on Eri’s face. She longed to touch one of Eri’s hands and just pat it because that seemed fairly non invasive. Less invasive than a hug at least. Also in perhaps lesser news it was getting harder to breathe. But surely that could be dealt with later. According to Toshi’s mind Recovery Girl was the best healer there was. She was second to none. And that was Mercy’s last thought before the peaceful darkness pulled her under again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercy finally stays awake but is still in great pain. Izuku has graduated and All Might is not doing well at all. Also Aizawa keeps calling Mercy problem child #3.

Anyone who ever said that waking up was easy was lying to you. Or at least that’s what Mercy thought. She came into consciousness this time much more slowly than the other times. The good news was that she was alive. She would worry about however that worked later. For now it was a struggle to open her eyes. It probably shouldn’t have been but well she could already tell that currently she was weak. How weak was yet to be determined but her chest didn’t hurt anymore. That was likely a good thing. Or at least as good of a thing that was possible at the moment. One fatigued sky blue eye opened and then another and then met concerned green eyes. Oh so Izuku was here. That was good. He was uninjured which was even better. She doubted she could summon even the tiniest dregs of energy to heal him. And then she spotted Toshi. All still in a bed with his hair all spread out like a sunflower. She could tell even without being able to move a single muscle without pain that he was almost dead. She had seen it before many times. His chest was barely rising with each labored breath he took but it was moving. But soon it would stop. She had seen so many One for All users die. He would be the 8th to die. She wasn’t ready. Most likely she would never be ready. Was anyone really ready to die or see death. “How long?” she managed to rasp out. She waited for a response. “It’s been three days problem child #3.” Aizawa said. He looked like he hadn’t slept but Mercy was semi sure he always looked like that. Her gaze flitted over to him. She studied his face. All the while hiding her fear. Was he a friend or a foe. “Just like problem child number #1.” Aizawa said. If Toshi hadn’t been barely alive and Mercy hadn’t been so weak she might have laughed. Was she really that much like Izuku. I mean sure he was her descendant but so was Tenko Shimura and look how he turned out. Her gaze flitted over to Toshi or she supposed to most people it was All Might. The Symbol of Peace or well former Symbol of Peace. “Oh Toshi you’ve been so brave.” Mercy thought. She let her mental presence painstakingly gently slide into his head. He was barely alive and she was not going overwhelm the man. “I have one last gift for you if you’ll choose to accept it.” Mercy thought. “What is it?” came the weak mental response. “The last bits of my Guardian power.” Mercy thought to him. “But that’s yours.” Toshi responded. “It shouldn’t be anymore.” “I lost that right long ago but much like One for All it can be passed on to a successor so too can the power of a Guardian.” “All it takes is an especially heroic act or acts.” “Then the power passes on the next user who can improve it if they so wish.” “I chose my successor after seeing you choose young Izuku.” “I chose you Toshi but I will not force you to accept my power.” “I’m not that kind of person.” “Plus sometimes the Man in the Moon chooses more than one successor so someone shoulders the burden with you.” “I-i’m honored Mercy but why exactly?” “I-is it because I was the Symbol of Peace.” Toshi weakly mentally responded. “No it’s because you have proven yourself time and time again to me Toshi.” Mercy responded. There was a long pause and then weakly Toshi mentally responded. “I-I accept your power.” “Thank you now rest.” Mercy mentally responded. Her power slowly flowed into Toshi and into another. Then it was out of her entirely. It was the oddest feeling to Mercy. But also since she hadn’t really used it in centuries she was okay with it leaving her. Maybe she was weaker now but she could live with that. Her eyes were still open but moved back to Izuku when she heard crying. “What’s wrong Zuzu?” Mercy rasped weakly. She rarely called him Zuzu. Usually she just called him Izuku but well Izuku was clearly more than a little upset so she used an old nickname from when he was a child to talk to him. “A-All Might is dying.” Izuku said. This was the most upset Mercy had ever seen him. Including every time he had been bullied, every fight she had ever seen him in and even all the times he just felt like he was worth nothing. And unfortunately Mercy had no response. Nothing she said could make it better. No quirk could fix this. And for the first time in three days a slight glimmer of fear appeared in Mercy’s eyes. It was gone almost as soon as it came but well it was definitely there. She heard Toshi draw a shallow breath and his eyes opened. Izuku immediately rushed over to him. “Please don’t die A-All Might.” “You can’t leave me.” “I’m not ready.” “I still need you.” All of this came out in a rush of words but Mercy still was able to process it fairly easily. Her mind was clearer now and while her energy was low it still existed. Which meant that she was not connected to Toshi anymore. Giving him her power had broken the connection somehow. This truly was the end for Toshi. She was probably supposed to be crying too but how can you cry if you don’t remember exactly how to. She had memories of crying but she hadn’t cried since quirks first appeared. And that was only because that day there were several people that she couldn’t save. So when tears unexpectedly slid down her cheeks she wasn’t ready for them. Thick tears rolled down extremely pale and drawn looking cheeks and past pale pointed ears. They soaked her clothes and at some point during all that Toshi drew his last breath. And said his last words and she missed it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to everyone who is reading this, anyone with chronic pain and anyone who the system failed. 
> 
> In which Mercy has a bit of a crisis and gets a hug from Present Mic and Aizawa.

She didn’t know how long she had cried but now she was being hugged. That was nice. She liked hugs. She always had. Especially hugs from Bunny or Jack Frost. Hugs from Bunny were fluffy and she had always liked fluff. Plus Bunny was warm and that was nice when she was injured. And she was injured a lot and felt pain even when she wasn’t injured. Phantom pains were what those were called or at least she thought that was the term in English. English was her least favorite language. Hugs from Jack Frost were cold but gentle. Almost as if he thought she would break if he hugged her. She wasn’t going to break that easily. She hadn’t been easy to break since she was human or well as human as someone like her could be. She wasn’t just a demigod. Her father’s side was various gods and goddesses and entirely too many half siblings. Most of whom she had never met. And on her mother’s side were humans of course but there was some god on that side too. And fae but that was something she was reluctant to mention. It was a closely guarded family secret. Almost as closely guarded as the fact that there was demon blood on that. None of her relatives wished to admit that their line was tainted in such a way. They weren’t demons as Christianity views them. They were more like fallen gods from what few books she could findon them. Her mother’s family’s protector was the fierce demon known as Lord Sesshomaru. The lord of the western lands and one of the scariest but also coolest people she had ever met. She had no idea how old he was and it honestly didn’t really matter to her. He was a living legend. A fierce dog demon warrior. He had taught her how to fight. He had found some of the oldest demon warriors still living and they had taught her all of their fighting techniques before they died. Their final student had been her. That was after her mother had died so it was a welcome distraction from her grief. Throwing herself headlong into mock battles and learning all the combat tricks and strategies she could. It was so much to take it and absorb but she managed. Her notes were still in Lord Sesshomaru’s house to this day. Also before his death when she was still fairly small she had met Inuyasha. The half demon brother of her protector was cool too and although he initially did not come off as nice she could tell that had a certain soft spot for her. Ever since she was a kid she had seen what other people could not. Ghosts and monsters of all kinds. Initially it had been slightly terrifying but once she learned how to fight then she could push her fear away a bit and just focus on the fight. She couldn’t do that with bullies though but that’s okay. The bullies were human for the most part. Sometimes they weren’t though. Sometimes they were monsters. So her mother taught her to fight what monsters she could while she was alive. And she was a rather comical sight as a small child fighting these monsters. And she would rather never have a single living soul know this but she was always terrified. Just because she didn’t jump at shadows didn’t mean she was completely okay. She just shoved things aside as much as she could. Plus she had the mighty sword Tetsusaiga so things would be okay. Hopefully no heroes found out about that. Inuyasha had given her that sword and it was something she never wanted to be parted from. She still had it when she was a ghost. It was her sword. And she would protect it as fiercely as she protected others. At some point without her realizing it she supposed it had become an integral part of her identity. Also she had just become aware that a blond haired man she didn’t know the name of was hugging her. She relaxed into the hug of this warm stranger. And into the hug of a black haired man who was also warm but had an unusual elbow scar. Was that from the USJ incident? It probably was but she would ask later. She would ask all her questions later. They could wait. For now it was warm hug time. Time to put away the tears for later. Tears were a weakness she couldn’t afford. And later maybe she could hug Izuku. Because he definitely needed it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eri gets cuddled and a former Guardian longs to comfort Izuku

At the same time that Mercy was having a semi breakdown Eri was crying and feeling like she had done something wrong. Like she was cursed just like Chisaki had told her all those times. She was having flashbacks and it was like she was back there. She was gripped with terror so intense her body shook like leaves in a particularly violent wind. “I’m cursed. A cursed human.” she said in a small barely audible voice. Mirio glanced at Tamaki before wrapping around Eri and Tamaki did the same. Tamaki was anxious but then again when was he not. But Eri was more of a priority than he was. He was Suneater after all and Suneater was a hero. A protector of the innocent and of life in general. Sort of like one of those Guardians in those old books he enjoyed as a kid. They had been so cool. Heroes but not like most people knew heroes. Guardians were spirits that protected children. A special kind of ghost that protected the innocent. That was just as cool if not cooler than a hero. The five most popular were Jack Frost, Nicholas St. North, Toothiana, The Sandman and E. Aster Bunnymund. Jack Frost made snow days fun and was the Guardian of fun. If Tamaki had to guess what he looked like then he would pictured someone that looked sort of like Mirio. Maybe not an exact Mirio copy but at least close. Nicholas St. North was also known as Santa Claus and he was the Guardian of Wonder. E. Aster Bunnymund was the Guardian of Hope and from all accounts a terrifying opponent to face in battle. He was grumpy but he had a huge soft spot for children. Toothiana was also known as the Tooth Fairy. She was the Guardian of Memories and fascinated with teeth and she had many small fairies working for her. She was a fearsome winged warrior. The Sandman was small and quiet and did not speak. He had a warm smile and was the Guardian of dreams. Each of the Guardians were fierce warriors in their right from the few accounts he could find. But there was one Guardian that he desperately wanted to know more about. Her name was Mercy Briarwood and there was nearly no recent or relevant information on her. She was supposed to have had large white wings, healing powers, sky blue eyes, was 5’10 in height, small but with muscles and she had pointed ears and jet black hair. There were two reasons he had become a hero. The rather obvious one was Mirio but also Mercy was a reason. A secret reason and a lesser reason but a reason nonetheless. Anyway none of his scattered thoughts were anywhere near as important as comforting Eri was. He settled for awkwardly patting Eri’s hair to comfort her. He wasn’t especially good at this comforting thing. Mirio was the comforter with a smile as bright or brighter than the sun. He had thought that as a kid and well that opinion had never changed. Mirio was Lemillion. The hero who would save 1 million people. Who was the unbreakable man who was rendered quirkless and then had his quirk restored. Tamaki’s hero and the hero of so many others. He loved Mirio. Now if only he could tell him that and maybe just maybe figure out how to talk to Eri’s formerly invisible friend. Something about her was calming to him. Now he just had to figure out what.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercy asks questions and truths are revealed

“Where am I?” Mercy rasped. Her voice was starting to strain from being used. She wasn’t used to speaking out loud much and it strained her vocal cords. “You are at a hospital near U.A. High.” Aizawa said. Mercy blinked once and then twice. “And U.A. is where exactly?” she said. “In Japan.” came the terse response. Her mind was slightly foggy and thoughts were starting to slip away like mist through fingers. And suddenly she yawned. Apparently she was tired. That was a strange feeling. She hadn’t really been tired in a long time. Not since the fateful day she had become a ghost. And that was a long long time ago. More than 100 years if you were actually counting. She had been counting. Mostly just because of boredom. Being a ghost was boring. Dreadfully boring. Nothing ever really changed. At least being a Guardian was exciting. Something new happened every day. If it wasn’t Pitch then it was rescuing or comforting people. Especially children. She had a huge soft spot for children. Everyone knew that and so many villains had chosen to target that particular soft spot of hers. Because they knew she would show up and save the children. No matter what it cost her. What were scars and cuts and broken bones to someone who didn’t care how broken her body became as long as it could still save people. That was probably how she ended up with such bad chronic pain. Always pushing herself past her limits over and over again. She had constantly hurt even as a ghost. Which was nothing short of ridiculous beyond belief. I mean sure she could get burned and injured still but well perhaps there was more to ghosts than anyone living had known about. That was her last thought before she slipped into the darkness of sleep. And as before she had the same dream. Takuma was there. He was always there and he had a lopsided smile on his face. The other users were there too. Even Toshi was there. He gave her a hug that if she had received when he was younger might have broken some ribs. Now it broke nothing. It just twinged a bit. She could handle twinges. Those weren’t usually that bad. Toshi looked sad but healthy. Healthy was good. Healthy was always good. It looked different on each individual person though. There were no miracle cures after all. And in the distance she could see Horiyoshi in chains. Somet time he must have died. That was a relief to her. Now no one would ever suffer from his evil ever again. Or suffer from Tomura’s for that matter. Tomura had been rewound back into a baby and was now being raised by a hero. She wasn’t sure which one. Hopefully a very loving one. Every time she had this dream it made her equal parts happy and sad. Happy because some of her favorite people were here and sad because it was just a dream. She patted Toshi’s back. He was taller than her by a lot but she was okay with that. If Toshi was here then that could only mean one or two things. One was that the power transference hadn’t worked and the other was that Toshi was simply here because he wanted to be. She didn’t know which one it was but she was fairly relaxed. Content to just let the dream run its course. Meanwhile outside her dream Aizawa and Present Mic heard mumbling.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercy mumbles in her sleep and Eri sneaks over to see her and curls up on her right while Izuku curls up on her left side.

“Missed you Toshi.” “How have you been?” Mercy mumbled. She was talking in her sleep. “I have been well but worried.” Toshi responded. Mercy’s dream self nodded. “I see.” came the response in halting English. Aizawa looked confused and Present Mic just listened. He had strained his voice so he was quieter than usual. “Your voice sounds strained.” Nana said. She looked concerned and Mercy’s dream self sighed. “I’m fine Nana.” came another response in halting English. “I swear upon everything that’s holy that it’s just a slight bit of strain.” came another response in halting English. “Give your voice a rest Mercy.” the 6th user said. “Very well Akira.” came the response in Japanese. “You’ve taken care of us for so long. Now let us take care of you.” Toshi said. Mercy’s dream self nodded and was quiet. Meanwhile Eri had snuck in with Mirio and Tamaki. She had immediately gone over to Mercy. Seeking the comfort that Mercy’s presence had always brought her. She curled up on Mercy’s right side and fell asleep. Izuku was curled up on her left side and also asleep. Tamaki’s face had an expression of peacefulness. Like all the anxiety had just drained right out of it. Was Eri’s friend a Guardian? Was that why she had appeared out of nowhere. She probably was and that calmed Tamaki. So he curled up in a chair with Mirio and fell asleep. And for the first time in a long time his dreams were peaceful too. Mirio fell asleep shortly after that and dreamed of Sir Nighteye.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of Eri and Izuku snuggling and Mercy waking up and just letting them snuggle her.

When Mercy woke up again it was to the soft snoring of Eri and Izuku. That gave her a warm feeling. It was nice. They looked so peaceful while asleep. She hadn’t seen Izuku that relaxed in a long time and she wasn’t about to wake him up. He needed sleep and so did Eri. She wondered quietly how tall Izuku would get. Would he reach the height of Toshi? Would he be 7’2 or would he be shorter? She decided to file away those questions for later. She was thinking clearer now but was still in pain. It wasn’t quite overwhelming yet but she did feel a deep ache in her bones. And that made her wonder how old she appeared to be. Probably at least a teenager in appearance but who knew. She had stopped aging unexpectedly at 15 and then died at 18 so she probably looked quite young. She was fine with that. Numbers were too much trouble anyway and after being around so many demons when she was young she had adopted a select number of their habits. Stuff about packs and not caring about ages mostly. Lots of demons were thousands of years old so numbers didn’t matter to them anymore. Also more than a few demons had referred to her as a pup or a kit or some other super specific demon term. It used to annoy her but gradually she got used to it. Most of those demons were probably dead now anyway. She would have to do research later.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions are asked and secrets are revealed

Mercy was feigning interest in a wall when a man in a tan overcoat came in. She had no idea who he was or why he was there. He couldn’t be Sir Nighteye because he was not wearing glasses and he did not have green hair. So who could he be? He was too tall to be Gran Torino. Plus Gran Torino was both very old and very short. He clearly wasn’t Dave. Dave had blue eyes and brown hair and glasses. Plus he had done something pretty stupid that had gotten him kicked off of I-Island. Honestly trying to restore All Might to his former glory with an illegal device was something that Dave should have known would not work. For a Nobel prize winning scientist to make such a decision was puzzling. I mean she had known about his not so secret huge soft spot for Toshi and his not so hidden crush on Toshi but she hadn’t said anything about that. People drifted apart all the time. For multiple different reasons. And she knew that Toshi still had had feelings for Dave when he died. Possibly romantic but well it wasn’t her place to speculate. She had been rather protective of Dave when he was younger but as Toshi and Dave drifted apart she had naturally drifted apart to. Dave had only seen her a handful of times and that was only because Toshi was hurt and she really needed help carrying him. Toshi was kind of heavy in his muscle form after all. She was still very protective of Melissa though. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the girl was quirkless though and everything to do with the fact that Melissa’s mother had died. A sudden clearing of a throat drew Mercy’s eyes to the man in the overcoat. A past version of Mercy might have thought the man looked serious but still hot but the current version of Mercy simply wanted to know who he was. He was holding a notepad and looking a bit stern. That was troubling. That look usually meant that she would either be blamed for something she didn’t do or interrogated. Now she just needed to see which one it was. “Hello I am Naomasa Tsukauchi.” the man in the overcoat said. He still looked stern. Mercy gulped once which was torture on her dry and sore throat. “I’m Mercy Briarwood.” she rasped out. This guy made her nervous and that was a state she did not enjoy being in and one that she hadn’t been in for a long time. That look reminded her of her father. Zeus the king of Olympus and the man she feared the most out of any man in the entire world. “That’s not a Japanese name.” Tsukauchi responded. “I’m only half Japanese.” Mercy rasped. “My Mother was Japanese and my father is the king of Olympus.” “Also a major dick but well that’s less important.” she hastily added. Talking sucked but she had no idea how much sign language Tsukauchi knew. He might not know any. And she was not about to start signing to someone who might not know any sign. She didn’t even know this guy and no matter how much talking made her throat feel like it was being murdered she wasn’t about to try signing just yet. She patiently went through and answered Tsukauchi’s other questions and then rubbed at her throat. It hurt so much that it was becoming unbearable. “Water.” she rasped out. Then she closed her mouth.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A talk about quirks

Now that she wasn’t talking Mercy actually felt slightly better. Only slightly though. Her throat still hurt a lot. Also her body felt a bit like it was going to start crackling with electricity. That was not a pleasant feeling. She wasn’t a lightning rod after all. Or some other form of electrical conductor. She idly wondered if that was a quirk. Then Izuku woke up. The look on her face must have been particularly helpless looking or something because he started trying to reassure her that everything would be okay. And then Eri woke up. And Mercy frantically tried to put her face into a reassuring expression because she didn’t want to scare Eri. Eri had been through enough already without Mercy accidentally scaring her. And then just as soon as it had began the feeling of lightning crackling had ended. Detective Tsukauchi sighed. And the black haired man that Mercy thought might have been named Shouta was staring directly at her and not blinking. His hair was also in the air. It felt weird to be stared at. She hadn’t really been stared at in at least 200 years. Maybe longer than that since she wasn’t really that great at Math. She never had been. Math was super frustrating. The numbers never stayed still for her. They always switched around. “Who are you and why are you here?” Shouta asked. ‘I’m Mercy and my job is to protect Izuku and anyone else who might need protecting.’ Mercy signed back. Signing didn’t hurt but speaking was a form of torture at the moment so she preferred not to speak. Thankfully Shouta seemed to understand sign. “How do you have three quirks?” Shouta asked. Mercy shrugged and then signed ‘I don’t know. I’ve never had any before now.’ She was calmly looking at Shouta. Shouta looked surprised. “So you were quirkless?” he said. Mercy nodded and then signed ‘Yes. I’ve been quirkless since I was born.’ ‘Also I can’t tell you how I have quirks now.’ ‘I wish I could though.’ ‘It would make things much easier for you.’ Shouta sighed and Eri ran to him and he bent down and picked her up. The entire time he never blinked once. That was impressive. She had never seen someone keep eye contact with her for that long. At some point she received a glass of water which she sipped as slowly as humanly possible. It soothed her throat. Finally Shouta blinked and the electric feeling came back but less strong than before. Mercy was tired now and ready to sleep. Plus she missed Toshi a lot and she knew if she slept then she would see him again. So she slowly and somewhat painfully slid into the land of dreams.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercy dreams of All Might

Once she entered the dreaming part of sleep the first person she saw was Toshi. She gave him a bright smile. She was so happy to see him. ‘Hello Toshi.’ she signed. ‘I missed you a lot.’ she added. “I missed you too.” Toshi said warmly. Mercy felt content just to watch that warm smile and stand near Toshi. Now Toshi would always be a part of One for All and likely would be a Guardian for a large chunk of time also. She was happy for him. Giving up her power had been a great decision and she knew Toshi would do well. The other Guardians would help him and it was likely that eventually he would be able to reunite with friends of his that were still living. Like Dave. She knew that Toshi was probably missing Dave a lot. And she was sure that Dave was missing Toshi. ‘How do you feel about being a Guardian Toshi?’ Mercy signed. “It’s a bit odd but I’m getting used to it.” Toshi replied. ‘Well that’s good.’ Mercy responded. Toshi nodded and smiled. That smile was like the sun. It was so warm. Mercy loved it. It was one of the best smiles ever. She wanted this dream to never end but of course all good things come to an end and Mercy was terribly sad when she woke up. But that was okay. Sadness wasn’t likely to be permanent with her. Especially not if Toshi one day came to visit. Which it was likely he would. And until then she would find a way to train and and learn as much as she possibly could. So then she could hug him and greet him with an “I am here.” She would treasure that day when it came. But until then well there was quite a bit for her to learn and experience.


End file.
